Poggioreale, Naples

Poggioreale is a neighbourhood of Naples where a vast ancient quarry was discovered by chance in 1987, following subsidence beneath the Pianto cemetery near the church of Santa Maria del Pianto. The quarry supplied the tuff blocks used to build the 6th-century BC Greek city walls of Neapolis. The quarry walls retain horizontal ridges corresponding to block height and alphabetical marks carved by ancient quarrymen. Blocks were transported along a straight route via Nuova Poggioreale to enter the city at the site of Castel Capuano. A second phase of wall construction in the 4th century BC used compact yellow tuff blocks during the Samnite Wars.